Akaboshi Koume looked like Yukari. Actually, Erika realised, she resembled Yukari's mother. Different eye colours, different hair colours… But the hair was the same thick wavy curls and the face was the same shape. If someone had told her Koume and Yukari were cousins she wouldn't have doubted it for a second. But Yukari would have known she had a cousin in Sensha-do. A cousin involved in a serious accident at the finals. It would probably have been the first thing she had said to her when they had met.
But Koume did look like Yukari, and she wondered if that was the reason she and Miho had taken to her. Koume didn't have Yukari's puppyish energy but she did have her anxiety and shyness and when she squirmed… Erika considered that perhaps she should see a professional for an explanation as to why she chose to be around someone who was a constant reminder of the most traumatic experience of her life.
It was Hana that had brought them here. Responsible mature Hana who had taken the three broken girls under her wing and led them to a small restaurant where she had ordered food for four and then asked them what they would like. The part that really sold it was that she wasn't making a joke; she meant it. It was enough for them to speak and put in their own orders, although they remained in silence as they waited and then as they were served. No one touched a thing though.
"So they made you Vice-Captain." Erika decided there was no point circumventing the conversation.
Koume kept her head bowed, as if her rice bowl was a fascinating spectacle. "It was going to be you."
It took her aback. "Me?"
"But you left… So they gave it to me instead."
"A consolation prize." She mused. "And they were going to give it to me and not you?"
Koume swallowed and tried to speak a few times and then swallowed again. "Your family…"
"I understand." They would have been trying to wrangle something advantageous out of what had happened and in the short time before she had decided to join Miho at Oarai, they had tried to fill the vacant post with her. Vice-Captain of Kuromorimine, meaning that when Maho left, she would have become Captain herself. In another life, that would have been her proudest accomplishment. "And your family?"
"They didn't ask for it!" Koume looked up, first at her and then at Miho. She needed them to know she hadn't usurped them. "But-"
"They wanted some good publicity after all the rumours." She nodded and then picked up her chopsticks. She began to eat and to take in Koume and Miho's awkwardness. When they had seen Maho at the drawing, she had glimpsed Koume and guessed the girl wasn't ready to meet either of them. She had agreed. She hadn't had the energy for that conversation and Miho hadn't needed the reminder. Now Maho had given them no choice. She had ripped off the scab. "I'm looking forward to seeing the footage of our match today, Hana-san. Everyone was saying it was an amazing shot you made against the flag."
"Thank you, Erika-san."
"We were firing so close my ears are still ringing." She knew her good cheer was frightening Koume and Miho but she had no desire to wallow like they were. "Better than my last official match though. That gave me my pretty smile." It was cruel but they needed to feel the knife. "Koume, what happened wasn't your fault. Not unless you made the ground give way under your tank. Miho, you didn't lose Kuromorimine the match. It's not your fault your crew had no initiative of their own and let themselves get hit. It's not even Pravda's fault they continued on. They didn't know." She bit at her scar, sucking in the rippled flesh between her teeth and sucking on it for a moment. "The Sensha-do Federation messed up and they know it and that's why all of this never happened according to them. Everything else…" Hana knew but Koume and Miho did not.
"I had a… Disagreement with my mother." Erika said simply. "That's why I came to Oarai. With you, Miho. She wasn't upset that I got hurt, she was upset I'm not pretty anymore. I didn't like that… So now I live on the other side of the country." Koume and Miho were staring at her with that wide-eyed expression of shock that they did best. "Miho, I know your mother let you transfer because you didn't want to do Sensha-do anymore. She wasn't sent away, Koume. You didn't ruin Miho's life." It was the truth that a guilt-stricken Koume needed to hear. "Or mine. You know Miho wasn't happy as Vice-Captain at Kuromorimine. You know that. And my relationship with my mother… Something was going to break at some point… If it wasn't the accident, it would have been something else." She took in the expressions of all three. "Hana here's been told not to come home so long as she does Sensha-do." She told Koume, uncaring if this was information she didn't have the right to give away. "We were bullied into taking Sensha-do again by the Oarai Student Council. We're all going through a lot these days and none of it's fair. But it's no one's fault either."
She had said a lot and none of it new. She didn't like talking about it or having to reassure everyone else and yet, she kept having to do it. She had to help everyone else with their issues while working through her own despite clearly being one of the least qualified people to do so.
"I let you down." Koume was speaking to her rice once more.
"No." Miho spoke now and in her Captain's voice. "You didn't." The tone wasn't familiar to Koume and so it struck her. "Erika's right. She keeps telling me, and I… I wasn't listening."
"No, you were feeling sorry for yourself." Erika sighed.
"Erika…" Hana said warningly and she bowed her head contritely.
"You should come join us at Oarai." Erika mused to Koume. "You'd enjoy it. They're all insane there but you'd enjoy it. Everyone tells you that you did your best rather than telling you off for your best not being good enough."
Koume and Miho knew what she meant first-hand whilst her conversation with Hana had told her more than enough about Kuromorimine for her to understand her meaning.
"The Captain…" Koume hesitated. "She misses you." She practically murmured at Miho and Erika watched as the authoritative Captain persona shattered. It seemed Miho might be willing to let go of her grief over the finals but her relationship with her family; that was going to be another conversation. Several probably.
"Eat your food." Hana advised. She had already put away half of hers into that physics defying pit she called a stomach.
[][][][][][]
Saori had known Mako and her grandmother for a long time and so it was no surprise to her to learn that the woman had collapsed due to 'overexertion'. Again. The woman refused to accept her age and limitations and tried to power through everything with sheer will even though she had long since reached the point where that simply wasn't possible and she was hurting herself. It hurt Mako too but there was nothing she could do to stop her. They had been having that argument for years and the woman was as unyielding as a tank. Saori had once heard her yell at Mako that no, she could not in fact slow down because if she did; Death would catch up with her. Something Mako hadn't needed to hear… Now she was sleeping and so was Mako, still holding her hand.
Meanwhile, there was a figure who did resemble Death standing by with a far from reassuring presence. Saori's only experience of the military was their treacherously female Sensha-do instructor and yet that real captain had less impact than the captain of Kuromorimine's Sensha-do team.
The girl was barely older than she was and yet held herself in a way that made her look like iron. The grey and black school uniform only accentuated that appearance and made her feel very conspicuous in her green and white. Saori wore black stockings which she felt emphasized her legs but the black contrasted with the white and green she also wore. The only contrast for Maho was the brown of her hair.
When she had first learnt this was Miho's sister, she had wondered how she hadn't realised until Miho had said it and she had come to the conclusion that it was the iron quality of Maho that disguised the very clear family resemblance. They even had the same hairstyle though Maho's was slightly longer. But while her big sister stood tall and straight, Miho had a tendency to hunch. She had seen many times when Miho became anxious how she lowered her head and hunched her shoulders, like a turtle trying to hide in its shell. She also drew her arms up across her chest as another defensive measure. Maho looked like her idea of a defensive measure would be to strike first. Like Erika would…
After flying them to Oarai, Saori wasn't sure why Maho had remained with them. She hadn't said anything and she was a stranger in a strange town. Her motives were her own. If anyone in the hospital had questioned why she was standing guard at a door, they hadn't dared ask and Saori couldn't blame them. She wondered how two sisters could be so different and then chastised herself for making this judgement when she didn't know anything about her beyond her dedication to Sensha-do. And that she had told Erika to look after Miho who had obeyed that order with zeal. This could be interpreted two ways though; either Maho had earned such loyalty from Erika or Erika was that scared of her she hadn't dared disobey the order even though she was no longer under her authority. Erika wasn't scared of anything, except perhaps being hugged by Yukari. Erika also insisted that Maho had cared deeply about what had happened to Koume, Miho and Erika and she was looking out for Miho but she only had Erika's word on this. After all, she had barely said two words to Miho when they had seen her at the drawing and none of them had been concern for her wellbeing. Instead it had been a harsh question, as if Miho had done something wrong and the way Erika and Miho had reacted had made her think that by taking Sensha-do again, they had done something very wrong indeed.
"How is she?"
Saori had to fight not to clutch her chest at the sudden question and the authority with which it was asked. She also didn't know which Reizei it was referring to. "They're both okay. It's not the first time she's been unwell. And thank you, for your help."
Maho inclined her head slightly and it felt more like a reproof than an acknowledgement. She understood now why Miho felt inadequate. Miho was shy, self-conscious, shrinking. Maho was a presence. She exuded more than mere confidence but instead the statement of fact that anything that got in her way would crumble before her. The jokes that Erika told about their mother suddenly didn't seem like comic exaggeration.
"I'm going to stay here with Mako. She needs me."
"Very well. Itsumi has informed me Akaboshi will be spending the night with her and Miho so I'll take her back to school tomorrow. Wish the others well. Good evening."
She was so abrupt that she got a good ten paces before Saori recovered. "Maho!" She stopped and turned on the spot with the grace of a great feline predator. "Aren't you going to talk to Miho?"
Maho had the same eyes as Miho though they were a darker brown. They had the same expressiveness and Saori had seen Miho worry enough to see it in Maho's eyes. "Miho doesn't want to talk to me."
"Of course she does!"
A hint of a smile. A bitter one. "Miho would only tell me what she thinks I want to hear. That she's happy. That nothing's wrong. That she agrees with me…" Now there was the merest whisper of sadness to her expression and the control behind the impassive mask became outright terrifying. Erika sometimes sported this look when her desire to shout at things didn't overcome her and Miho wore it occasionally while commanding but Maho had it perfected. "Miho is happy here?"
It felt like less of a question and more of an order and either way Saori nodded. "Yes. I think so."
"Then we have nothing to talk about." Maho said and turned about once more. This time Saori didn't stop her, she just thought how cold life must have been for Miho at Kuromorimine. For Erika too. It explained a great deal about them both.
[][][][][][]
Hana had made excuses about being tired after the long day and the match but Erika knew it was simply to allow the Kuromorimine reunion to carry on without an outsider asking questions. Erika had invited Koume to stay with them out of polite protocol; she could hardly allow Koume to leave and her and the Captain to have to fly back to Kuromorimine in the dark. She knew Maho could take care of herself and would probably be far more comfortable on her own than with Koume under her wing.
As she had brutally gotten to the heart of their issues, Koume and Miho had relaxed a little. Koume had relaxed even more upon seeing Miho's room. Even though they were maimed and bandaged, the army of Bokos were still very cute and it was difficult to feel tense around them. Personally, she thought they were all a bit much but no more than Yukari's tank theme in her room. She just didn't have a passion the way Miho and Yukari did.
She had sent Yukari a text, knowing the girl would have been confused by her disappearance after the match. No doubt she would have liked to have celebrated their victory and so Erika's message promised exactly that, along with the additional promise to explain in person where she had gone. The reply was somewhat passive-aggressive but she would have to get over it. It did however make her wonder what the rest of the team were doing. Nakajima most likely had gone on a celebratory drive with the rest of the Automotive Club who would be all over her exploits during the match, especially their mad charge into Saunders ranks.
The bigger question was how the Student Council were taking the unlikely victory and first milestone on their campaign to save their school but that would have to wait. She had enough to deal with right now.
Koume asked for specifics on why they had come back to Sensha-do and Miho had explained that the Oarai Student Council had been very 'insistent'. What she couldn't explain was why. Why did reviving Sensha-do mean so much to them? Erika could have furnished them with a very detailed answer, but couldn't. She had to tell the lie that they were just trying to improve the school's waning prestige which wasn't a complete untruth but Koume pressed by asking how far they thought they could go with just seven tanks. They had already been outnumbered in the opening round and if they reached the semi-finals they would be outnumbered a full two to one. And then… Erika had to bite her tongue not to testily point out they were perfectly aware of this and didn't need to be reminded.
Fortunately, or tragically depending on your viewpoint, Miho breezily said it didn't matter. They weren't aiming to be champions, only to go as far as they could and maybe surprise people with just how far they could go. That made Koume drop their motivations, and ask about their tanks.
"Motley. Very motley." Erika said.
"Yours did very well today."
"When my driver wasn't up to her elbows in the engine." She allowed.
"She loves it really." Miho beamed. "She just doesn't like people to know it."
"Shut up."
"The Okami is you, isn't it?" Koume asked.
Miho answered for her. "And her gunner. That's why it has a brown coat."
"We didn't paint it. It was the bunnies' idea of a joke."
"Bunnies?"
"She means Usagi team." Miho explained. "Our M3 crew."
"Six little rabbits and one hare." Miho gave her a puzzled look. "Tsuchiya." She said and Miho nodded. "One of our four mechanics."
"You only have four mechanics?" Koume's eyebrows shot into her fringe.
"Yep. We do all of our maintenance. All of it." She watched Koume think about that. All the tedious upkeep jobs that were left to Kuromorimine's own automotive students. Having to do them herself… "Though the Automotive Club does all the heavy repairs… They're probably doing them right now. For fun."
"Fun?!"
"They love it." Erika shrugged. "They're the most infuriatingly cheerful people you'll ever meet."
"You say that about everyone, Eririn." Miho pointed out.
"You have to admit everyone at Oarai has a very sunny attitude."
"We do discourage frivolity at Kuromorimine." Koume said and then frowned at her choice of words before realising they only emphasised her point and grinning. "And Third Year commanders don't like it when we aren't disciplined."
"The closest we get to discipline is Fluffy saluting me and Miho."
"Fluffy?"
Erika felt herself colour and didn't reply.
"She means her gunner. It's her pet name for her."
"Shut up." Erika said nastily as Koume turned incredulous blue eyes on her.
"Erika's got a very gentle heart these days."
"You're a mean person, Nishizumi." She accused and they both giggled at her. "This is why they made her Captain; her cruel and ruthless streak." This made them giggle even more until the three of them were helpless with laughter.
[][][][][][]
Miho insisted she stay. Even though her bed was literally on the side of the wall. Instead she and Miho slept on the floor while Koume had the futon and she thought about her last sleepover with Miho. Miho had been uncomfortable with them sharing a bed but now they had spent the night sharing a pad. It was not a good night's sleep for her but after the match, what she had really needed was an early night and a lie in.
Not to receive marching orders for Koume from Maho and then further orders from Hana to go visit Mako's grandmother in the hospital. Sure, it was all necessary but she was exhausted.
Miho did not want to see Maho. Maho did not want to see Miho. At least, that was what they both pretended and Erika wanted to strangle the pair of them. But she respected their wishes. Koume and Miho were no longer anxious around each other though and hugged each other goodbye with Koume uttering two words that she struggled with but meant the world to both of them.
"Thank you."
It amazed her that saying 'Thank you for saving my life' could be so hard for someone to say but then she asked herself if she could easily say it someone. It was doubtful; she didn't like being beholden to anyone. For Miho and Koume, it was simply a matter of anxiety. Expressing gratitude for a birthday gift was a struggle for people like them.
She accepted a hug from Koume as well, if only so she wouldn't feel spurned if she rejected it. She had done her very best to make Koume stop blaming herself for Kuromorimine losing the match and Miho's trauma and her scar. One hug was an easy price. Besides, she was getting used to it now with just how often the Oarai girls kept embracing her.
They witnessed the Drache take flight from a distance and she stood as close as she could to Miho without actually touching her to provide a comfort as she watched her sister fly away. The emotional distance between the Nishizumi sisters due to their simple refusal to communicate… Did she want to touch Miho to hug her and make it better, or to strangle her for making life so difficult for herself and others? She thought that it should have been easier for her to figure out that answer.
They met up with Hana and Yukari. Hana was sporting a bouquet of flowers, a long elegant braid and a hat that Erika suspected could usually be found flying over the Nevada desert abducting rednecks. On anyone else it would have looked ridiculous and yet on Hana, it was pure charm and class. Yukari meanwhile was wearing shorts, a baggy T-shirt and braces for her shorts. She didn't want to guess at what she might be carrying in her backpack considering the stuff she usually carried around in her schoolbag. Suffice to say if they needed to provide medical care or fight off zombies; Yukari most likely had them covered.
She thought that the four of them looked decidedly mismatched and she thought that was actually a good thing considering how often they spent in uniform. Although Yukari was quick to point out that her leather jacket resembled a uniform.
"You look like a U-boat captain." She said rather excitedly, making Hana and Miho giggle while she looked at herself and considered that maybe she had a point. They were dressed casual. She was dressed with attitude.
Yet when they got to the hospital, people looked to Hana as the mature one of the group. People looked at her, wondering how long it had been since she was last in the hospital for her face and if she caught their eye, she gave them her best scowl. She had dressed correctly.
Her attitude however was nothing compared to what awaited them. Any questions they had about the condition of Grandmother Reizei were answered by the sound of her strident voice echoing down the corridor as she berated a nurse who fled the room like it was a dragon's lair. The voice didn't pause, it merely changed target and that target was obviously Mako. Erika smiled to herself because even though Mako was soft-spoken and it would have been hard to hear her through the door, it appeared her grandmother wasn't even giving her the chance to speak, anticipating her every word and delivering another snarled imperative.
"I'm not sick! So stop treating me that way! I'm fine! Go back to school! Don't you dare be late!" And it seemed Mako was feeling defeated. "Are you even listening to me? Listen to me! You're always so rude and never answer me! Yes you are! You do it all the time!"
Mako finally got a word in. "Yelling like that will make your blood pressure rise."
"Don't you tell me about blood pressure! All I ever hear about is blood pressure! Every single doctor has something to say about blood pressure and I don't need to hear it from you too! There's nothing wrong with my blood pressure!"
"If her blood pressure is high and Mako's is low…" Erika mused aloud. "Could they do something to balance them out?"
"Of course I'm stressed!" Mako's grandmother spat her syllables like a machinegun. "I'm stressed because I've been kidnapped and brought to a hospital where my granddaughter wants to keep me prisoner!"
"Sh… Should we leave?" Yukari asked, apparently unafraid of gunfire but frightened by an old woman. The same could be said for Miho too.
Hana however steeled herself. "No. We didn't come all the way here just to turn back now." She declared, making it sound like it actually was a dragon's lair they were preparing to enter. "Let's go in!"
"Isuzu-dono." Yukari said with awe. "You're really fearless!" She completed the image that they were on a quest to slay a fire-breathing monster.
Miho giggled while Erika shook her head and Hana knocked on the door as grandmother and granddaughter argued whether or not good health was the result of willpower. As the knock would have gone unheard, Hana led them in with an 'Excuse us' that only she could deliver.
"Oh, Hana!" Surprisingly, Saori seemed completely unfazed by the Reizei bickering but then Erika remembered she and Mako were old friends. She had probably seen it all before, just as Mako's expression declared categorically that she had heard it all before and rather beaten down by it. "You all came! Come in!"
"Who are you people?!" There was a similar appearance between grandmother and granddaughter that Erika could see, even if their personalities were drastically different. "Did my granddaughter call for reinforcements to hold me here?"
Mako sighed ever so slightly. "They're friends from my Sensha-do class."
"Sensha-do? You?" For the first time, the woman spoke quietly and without that unhesitating confidence. Mako nodded and the woman frowned at her momentary uncertainty. They took the chance to politely introduce themselves and the woman fixed her with a hard stare. "Was that Sensha-do?" She asked, meaning her scar.
"I offended the oyabun." Erika replied.
She sensed that Hana, Miho, Saori and Yukari were mortified by this pronouncement while Mako merely raised her eyebrows. The old woman didn't even blink as she continued to stare for several heartbeats and then cackled with delight. "Sensha-do does make you brave then!"
The others relaxed and Saori clapped Hana and Miho hard on the back. "We won the first round of the national championship!"
"And you'd suck if you hadn't." Grandma Reizei declared loftily and acidly. "So what brought your tank crew here?" She interrogated rather than asked Mako.
"After the last match ended, I got a call saying you collapsed." Mako explained. "They were worried and came to see you."
"They were worried about you! Not me!" The sudden snap of her voice made them all jump. All except Mako who sighed wearily.
"I know…"
"Then go ahead and thank them!" Grandma hissed.
Mako looked like she had endured a month of close combat as she turned to them. "I'm grateful you came. Thanks."
"AT LEAST TRY TO SOUND SINCERE!"
Mako had turned her head ever so slightly to look at her grandmother and now looked back at them. "… Thank you."
"THAT WASN'T ANY DIFFERENT!"
"Your blood pressure will rise again if you keep yelling." Mako toned dryly.
"She was unconscious until morning." Saori explained. "But as you can see, she woke up full of energy!"
"I can't afford to sleep the day away! I'm going home tomorrow!" The old woman declared.
Since they had entered, Mako had looked her usual tired self, only with some embarrassment thrown in. Now she looked alarmed and raised her hands imploringly to the fearsome old lady. "No! That's too soon!"
"What are you saying?! I'm not going to stay here and take root!"
"Grandma, calm down. There are people here."
"Good! They can witness how you're trying to keep me prisoner here!"
"You're not a prisoner, grandma! This is a hospital!"
"So they'll try to harvest my organs if I stay!"
"No one wants your organs, Grandma!"
"What are you saying? My organs aren't good enough for this hospital?!"
It was all Erika could do not to laugh. This was truly fantastic entertainment that could not be bettered. The fact that this was clearly a constant in their lives explained why Mako looked so tired all the time. She would have been exhausted after a couple of minutes of this and yet, Mako and her grandma looked like they could go on for hours.
"Do you have a vase?" Hana asked Saori in a tone that suggested it was best to let the Reizeis continue their struggle unimpeded.
"No. Let's borrow one from the nurses' station." Saori said cheerfully, even more than usual. The pair of them escaped as the Reizeis called a momentary truce.
"Look." The woman said in a tone approaching calm. Approaching but likely to pass by without stopping. "You're only going to rust up here." She told them. "Go instead to make sure your tanks don't." She said oddly authoritatively, as if she wasn't just trying to relate to them with a vague reference but actually knew about tanks. "You get back too." She told Mako. "Though I'm sure you're just dragging them all of them down anyway."
It struck Erika as an oddly random cruel thing to say but as she was thinking about it, Miho was already replying. "That's not true. Reizei-san is always calm and composed during the matches we've had. She really helped us out."
Yukari sprang forward. "And her tank driving really is amazing! I wish I could drive like her!"
Devious old woman, Erika thought before speaking up. "She's teaching the others advanced skills when she only started herself a little while ago. She's a prodigy."
Mako didn't even seem to know she was smiling or that her grandma had said what she had deliberately so that her friends would 'correct' her, and say a whole bunch of things to make Mako feel good about herself. Devious didn't do it justice but the old woman insisted on keeping up the pretence. "Driving tanks well… Won't put food on the table!"
"Yes, grandma." Mako replied, but warmly instead of wearily this time.
Hana and Saori returned with a vase and they watched as Hana transformed the tight bouquet into an unexpectedly striking arrangement that Erika wouldn't have guessed was possible. It transformed the colourless hospital room somehow despite sitting on a small cabinet in the corner. The power of art.
"Well then, Grandma. See you later." Mako said abruptly and walked away. Her grandmother merely grunted. This apparently was normal because Saori ushered them after Mako and Erika was halfway through the door with Miho bringing up the rear when she heard the woman speak softly.
"That girl knows no courtesies…" She was addressing the window. "But please take care of her."
Erika felt her skin prickle and looked away as Miho gushed an affirmative. There was more than one way to show love.
On the train it was painfully obvious that Saori was utterly exhausted and yet she remained awake and invited Mako to sleep. Which she did. Using Saori's lap as a pillow while Saori cradled her. It made her feel awful to have thought of Saori as manipulative and controlling of Mako when clearly she loved her. Her hand was on Mako's shoulder, occasionally stroking her long dark hair while Mako was dead to the world. Even more than usual.
"I'm glad Mako's grandmother is better than we feared." Miho said. "And so full of energy!"
"You haven't seen anything." Saori said quietly.
"Now I understand why Reizei-dono really wants the attendance credits from Sensha-do." Yukari mused. "She needs to make sure she doesn't have to repeat a grade and disappoint her grandma."
"I'm sure she wants her grandmother to feel at ease about her future." Hana said.
"Hmm." Saori had her fingers on Mako's forehead, brushing some loose hairs off of her face. "Mako wants to graduate as soon as possible so she can stay by her grandma's side more often. No more long periods at sea." She got the hair away. "She didn't get much sleep last night. An hour maybe. This isn't the first time her grandmother has collapsed… So she was very worried. She only really fell asleep when the doctors told her she was okay."
"She really…" Erika coughed and started again. "She really got a shock though, when she got the call. I saw her drop her phone… And then why did she take socks and shoes off?"
"She was going to swim back to Oarai." Saori said.
"… Oh." She exchanged a look with Yukari who hadn't witnessed this and had only heard rumours.
"Her grandmother's the only family she has left." Saori explained and they all took pause before Miho nervously asked the question.
"Her parents?"
"They had an accident… When Mako was in elementary school. I was there when she got the news…"
This killed any follow up conversation and so they let Mako rest. She leaned against the window, looking at the verdant country of the Ibaraki Prefecture. Even though just yesterday she been in similar country, it was different when it wasn't seen from a tank and there was no risk of being shot at. The definition of peaceful.
She and Hana took turns carrying the virtually comatose Mako through town. Mako had just enough consciousness to hold onto them, like a baby monkey clinging to its parent. No one paid them any attention, strangely. It was no bother to her to carry Mako. She would have offered a ride to Saori if she had thought she would accept it but Saori seemed determined to be a pillar of strength, even if she was exhausted herself.
By the time they made it to the ferry that would take them back to the ship, they were all thoroughly worn out as the day's exertions coupled with those that had come the day before overtook them. Hana and Yukari joined Mako in sleep and Erika found herself smiling fondly as Yukari muttered in her sleep, although hearing that she dreamt about tank guns made her decide to take some air.
Miho and Saori were already on deck and she pointedly left them alone. She knew why Miho had gone on deck alone and decided she could do with some time alone to think. Saori she guessed thought the opposite; she believed she needed someone to talk to.
Miho did have a lot to think about. She had won a Sensha-do match, the first of a tournament, after saying she wanted nothing more to do with Sensha-do. She had seen her sister who she thought was disappointed in her and disapproving of her actions. She had witnessed Mako's relationship with her grandmother and would doubtless be in turmoil thinking about her mother. That was a lot to think about.
Erika was also thinking about her mother although not in the way people might have suspected. Mako's grandmother might have been a cantankerous battleaxe but it was clear to any idiot that she loved Mako. She also thought it was obvious that she didn't think her praise would mean anything to Mako and so she had played her little game to hear it from her friends instead. The woman didn't think she could be a good parent to Mako, which suggested she was full of regrets regarding her deceased child.
Erika knew her own mother had no such regrets. The woman wouldn't be regretting anything she had said, only that she had had the misfortune to have a daughter who wasn't what she wanted. What she had wanted was a dutiful, obedient girl who obeyed all instructions from her elders without question and never expressed an emotion that wasn't expected of her. She had always been too emotional for her tastes. Too independent. Her mother had never seemed to realise the contradictions inherent in Kuromorimine's philosophy. It taught them to have discipline and to obey orders but it also instructed them to believe in themselves, to be the very best they could be. To outdo others. You couldn't be a good little underling if you were trying to outperform your superiors to demonstrate you should be the one in command. That you were better than them.
In essence, it instructed them to usurp authority if they believed they knew better. She and her mother were always been doomed to fight. She just hadn't known how different they thought. Her mother held strictly to the belief that a woman should marry young and then start having children young, to pass on those values. Never mind that she had spent so much time focused on Sensha-do that she had never given a thought to dating and that the last time she had been around boys was in elementary school. Was she supposed to go to university and instantly transform into a socialite? Four years of university to meet someone, get to know them and then get engaged? From no experience of relationships to married and planning a family…
So Erika had no regrets about describing her mother as insane. And if she thought her daughter's looks were her only hope of accomplishing that four year plan then she had always had a low opinion of her.
[][][][][][]
"You didn't sleep well last night." It was not a question and the blunt accusation startled Miho even more than her customary fright at finding Erika waiting outside her door.
"How do you know?"
"I could hear you brooding through the wall."
"Oh." Miho hung her head.
"You know you can talk to me."
"I didn't want to disturb you. You looked so tired."
"I was tired. And so are you." Erika said and then sighed. "You're surrounded by people you can talk to, Miho. Stop thinking it makes you weak to ask."
"You don't want to talk to people."
"And yet, all I seem to do IS have long conversations with people about the past. And the present. And the future! Even though I'd love to do nothing more than sit and brood about it. So if I can't, you can't!"
Miho nodded meekly. "Good morning to you too."
"Good morning, Miho."
Having given Miho something to think about, they walked to school in silence which was no bad thing given how tranquil the streets were in the early morning. Serene. Or at least they were until they heard a strangled greeting. They looked back to see Saori struggling with Mako who if anything looked even deader to the world than yesterday.
"Good morning, Saori." They said.
Saori took a rest while Erika and Miho each took an arm and dragged Mako along the way they had when they had first encountered her. As if to fully complete reliving the memory, Sodoko was there at the gate waiting for them with her hand on her hip in a way she obviously thought made her look authoritative. It did not. It instead gave her a cattish camp quality.
"How splendid that you can attend school fast sleep." She deadpanned.
It was mistake because it appeared to wake up Mako who slipped from their grip. "Oh, Sodoko." She purred, stumbling forward. "I'm awake all right."
Erika had seen many entertaining sights at Oarai but the dawning look of horror on Sodoko's face as Mako approached her ranked pretty high. The horror became something truly magnificent as Mako embraced her, and then began cuddling her. Miho and Saori however apparently didn't find this sight particularly interesting and their attention was gotten by something else. Although, Erika thought that the giant banner proclaiming their victory over Saunders covering the entire side of one of the school buildings and a giant tank balloon should have been something she had noticed right away.
"Are we the centre of attention now?!" Saori bubbled excitedly.
"That's just the Student Council having fun!" Sodoko replied, in between trying to push Mako off of her who was purring her name over and over and clinging to her tight. "Get Reizei off me!"
"We could." Erika mused. "But I don't think any of your rules say students are forbidden from expressing their love for the Public Morals Committee."
"Just help me!" She implored and Saori was a better person than she was and actually did, gently prying Mako free of the stricken hall monitor. Mako immediately transferred her affections to Saori, making Erika wonder if she was in fact still asleep and dreaming as Mako snuggled into Saori's chest without reservation or any objection from Saori. She decided to focus her attention on Sodoko.
"Not a fan of the decorations then?" She asked the girl as she furiously groomed herself, straightening her uniform and hair and looked very much like an angry cat in the process. Perhaps Sodoko and Mako weren't as different as they liked to believe.
"They're unnecessary."
"But we won!" Saori gushed. "We should be celebrating?"
"Why? I didn't do anything." Sodoko said harshly and her tone told them to move on, and take their sleepy cat with them.
Erika sighed. Somehow she knew that this was going to come back on her somehow.
[][][][][][]
She was in class after lunch when Gomoyo and Pazomi came for her. Yukari looked alarmed and the teacher acquiesced and neither of them seemed to pay any attention to the fact that she was half a foot taller than Sodoko's two minions. They seemed to know it even if everyone else didn't.
Anzu was in her usual reclined position while Yuzu was sat comfortably on one of the sofas. Momo was stood imperiously to Anzu's right, clutching a traditional fan for some reason. Anzu grinned as she entered.
"Itsumi! I trust 'Crusher' and 'Low-blow' didn't hurt you?"
The reference sailed clean over Gomoyo and Pazomi's heads and judging by the frowns, Momo and Yuzu's too. Erika got it however and played along. "You know, you could have just called me."
Anzu waved her hand dismissively. "Oh yes, but the telephone is so impersonal. I prefer the hands-on touch you only get with hired goons."
"Did you actually want me for something or did you just want to enjoy a Simpsons reference?"
"Of course you're here for a reason. I wouldn't pull three people out of classes on a whim… Well, not today anyway." She waved her hand dismissively again and then addressed Pazomi and Gomoyo. "Thank you so much. Please give my best to Sodoko." Another wave of her hand told them to leave.
She was not invited to sit but she did anyway just to see Momo bristle. "The class is in a couple of hours so I assume you want to talk about something that you don't want to worry Miho about."
"We wanted to… What's the term?" Anzu ostentatiously thought about it. "'Debrief'? With you?"
"Fair enough." Erika said, and enjoyed Momo's surprise at her submission. "We won the first round. We beat Saunders against all the odds. I think that covers everything."
"Oh, Itsumi…" Anzu chided.
Erika sighed. "We won, didn't we?"
"We were lucky." Momo said coldly.
"I don't like luck. I don't believe in it. Hana made her shot with skill, not luck."
"And your contribution?" Yuzu asked.
"We did what we had to." Erika shrugged. "Nakajima's a great driver and Yukari's a fantastic gunner. But that's not why we won. We won because that Saunders girl decided that despite all their advantages, she had to cheat and tap our communications. If she hadn't done that, we wouldn't have been able to lure two of their tanks into an ambush. If she hadn't done that, Kay would have come to defend her with everything she had instead of equalling numbers. You can call that luck or you can say we took advantage of their mistakes. That's why we won." It was a cold analysis but it was the truth.
"It was more than that." Yuzu insisted. "You and Miho won us that match."
"Miho won us that match." Erika reproved Yuzu. "If I was in charge, I would never have let any of you bring your phones into our tanks. But Miho isn't a…" She couldn't think of a polite term to describe herself. "Miho's flexible. And if she wasn't, we wouldn't have been able to communicate after our radios were compromised and we would have lost."
"You really don't think taking out three Shermans helped win us the match?" Anzu asked curiously.
"If we had taken out nine Shermans, it wouldn't have mattered if that tenth one had eliminated our flag tank. That's how those matches work."
"Well in that case, we need to do better in the future." Momo declared.
"Better?" Erika laughed bitterly. "We won. We can't do better than that."
"Of our seven tanks, only two inflicted any damage on the enemy. And most of that was from you."
"Well that's not true. The whole team took out the two in the ambush. And if you want to be specific, I'm pretty sure it was Kaba team who drew first blood. Just as they did when we fought St Gloriana."
"She's got you there, Kawashima." Anzu smirked.
"What you should focus on is Kamo team."
"Sodoko? Why?"
"You press-ganged her into the club and ever since they joined up, all they've done is take beatings. From all of us in training and then by Saunders. Sodoko's a prideful person…" Who everyone made fun of. "She wasn't exactly enthusiastic to begin with and even you can't force her to stay if she decides to quit."
"She won't quit." Anzu said. "That's against the rules."
"Don't believe it. We can't afford to lose anyone now. We're lacking in numbers as it is. And if we do find another tank and the Automotive Club decide they like it, we'll be even shorter handed."
"Maybe I'll have to find some more volunteers." Anzu mused loftily.
"Perhaps." Erika had to fight not to roll her eyes. "We did something amazing, but our war's just begun." Now she did roll her eyes. "Not to sound overly dramatic." She said. "But we are going to have to get stronger moving forward."
"Always a good thing."
"I don't know if there are more tanks out there. But if there are, we need to find them. All the teams need to get better." She thought about it. "I'm mostly happy that I got through a match without breaking down."
"I thought you did." Momo remarked dryly.
"I meant catastrophically… But if you want to discuss breakdowns during the match-"
"Itsumi. Be nice." Anzu warned as Momo spluttered with rage. Erika had heard from Hoshino through Nakajima that Momo had lost her head after Duck and Rabbit teams had been eliminated in rapid succession and it had looked like total defeat was minutes away. Suzuki reported that Miho had also looked broken for a spell as well though quiet and controlled. Hana and Saori had rallied her and then her own insane assault upon Saunders had rejuvenated her spirit completely.
"You can put up banners and fly balloons. That's all good. Very good for them." She said. "But we can't relax. Especially not until we know who we're up against next and the results of the other matches."
"We already know Pravda and Kuromorimine will win their matches easily." Anzu sounded weary for the first time. "St Gloriana too. But if Keizoku wins their match, maybe they'll surprise us all and defeat Kuromorimine." Erika shook her head. Of all the minor schools, Continuation High was the only one anyone might have bet on to cause an upset. But Continuation High only had a small pool of tanks to draw on while Kuromorimine could tailor their line up to suit whichever arena they were placed in. "Who would you prefer to face? Maginot or Anzio?"
"That's easy. Anzio. They're the only school poorer than you. The French tanks Maginot use have an average of 40mm of armour, so they're not much less armoured than Saunders though they have much less firepower. But Anzio? They have tank destroyers that aren't much good beyond five hundred metres and they have tankettes that only have machineguns… Unless they bought the modifications for the antitank rifles… But even then, hardly any firepower."
"So Maginot will win?" Yuzu asked.
"More than likely. But no one expected us to beat Saunders."
Anzu grunted, weighing the prospects. It seemed to tire her out as she stretched in her chair and looked as if she was going to take nap in front of them all.
"Are we done then?"
"I think so." Anzu said with her eyes closed. "Thank you, Itsumi."
"I'm sure you'll send your goons if you need me again." She stood and made for the door."
"Itsumi... Erika."
She stopped and looked back. Anzu had her eyes open now.
"Thank you." The little red-haired girl said. "For all your efforts during the match."
"Thank you." Yuzu echoed. Momo meanwhile gave her a curt nod.
[][][][][][]
They watched the film of their match in class and it provided some context to events to Erika. The Saunders radio-tapping had allowed them to head straight for them from the beginning of the match and then to attack them with an almost perfect encirclement manoeuvre. If it hadn't been for themselves and Duck team scouting, they wouldn't have had warning of this attack and the match would have ended there.
Erika watched Sodoko's truly ferocious scowl as the B1 bis was disabled and then eliminated. She wore a scowl of her own as the video highlighted just how close Yukari had come to eliminating two Shermans there and then and instead managing only to disable one gun and damage one set of tracks. Call it luck or fate or Yukari needing just a little more experience, it was infuriating to see them come so close and fail.
She was embarrassed but also amused that the drones had caught her far from graceful or dignified tantrum. In the unlikely event that her mother watched this recording, she would witness her daughter wrestling in the grass with another girl and by the looks of things enjoying it which would probably throw her into a panic as she interpreted her 'Maybe I don't want a husband' remark another way. If only they had the audio of her remark about Akebi's breasts; that would really blow her mind.
Their ambush was depicted from the Shermans point of view for maximum drama. It made it very clear that they hadn't been aware of the Oarai tanks until the moment they fired. A perfect ambush, through and through.
She watched the main Saunders force head to the wrong place and then a focus on her tank as they performed maintenance all by themselves. She hadn't realised just how isolated they had been as Miho led the others off to search for the Saunders flag tank.
Everyone, even Duck team themselves, were on edge as they watched Noriko discover the Saunders flag tank and the observation drones had even managed to get a close up of the faces of both commanders. The two tanks had been ridiculously close when Duck team had stumbled upon the Saunders machine. Unbelievably close.
The pursuit of the Type 89 by the Sherman was astonishing as the little Japanese tank put on a burst of speed that shouldn't have been possible and then Noriko managed to deliver smoke charges straight to the Sherman's hull. Erika hadn't wanted them to stock their tanks with those charges. She didn't like smoke launchers on tanks. But Noriko proved their worth by blinding her opponent and then leading the Saunders flag tank straight into Oarai's main force.
Erika saw Miho biting her lip as they failed to eliminate the enemy flag tank there and then and it was a badly missed opportunity. It was also a testament to the driver of that Saunders tank who had managed to brake them in time to avoid Hana's shot. The others had failed to line a decisive hit either and she guessed that excitement had unsteadied their aim. That same excitement led to the chase.
She had seen pursuits before but never a lone flag tank chased by almost the entire enemy force. When the Saunders main force arrived and turned it into a chase of a chase, it might almost have been farcical if she hadn't known about the stakes. The elimination of Duck and Rabbit team was shown as the astonishing display of gunnery that it was and she wondered why Kay had decided to ambush them in the woods rather than the open where her master gunner could picked them off from a distance with ease. That girl could have ended the match with a single shot.
That gunner's masterful eliminations of moving targets while on the move herself contrasted sharply with her own insane charge. Inside the tank she had been aware of how rough the journey had been but seeing it from the outside, she didn't know how the T-50 hadn't shaken itself apart or its treacherous engine hadn't broken down on them. She needed to go and thank it.
It looked so smooth and planned on the screen. Their T-50 weaving amidst the Shermans and their gun firing point blank into them. It was quite remarkable but all she remembered was the gun firing and ramming home fresh shells for Yukari. The multiple angles and replays made it look like it had lasted a lot longer than it had. She winced as a Sherman indicated to be Kay's blasted them and they were sent flying. It had been painful enough on the inside and it looked worse on the outside as their tank rolled on its flank and ploughed along the ground for a considerable distance before finally stopping.
But she finally got to see what she was really interested in. Miho had taken a gamble, directing her machine onto a hill from which to snipe the Saunders flag tank. The Firefly had pursued and she smiled as the Panzer IV dodged its first shot. The Nishizumi instinct for knowing when they were being targeted was legendary at Kuromorimine. It must have been a real frustration for that Saunders gunner seeing her target inexplicably dodge what should have been a finishing move.
Even more frustrating to have fired just a mite too late so that Hana's shot eliminated the Saunder's flag tank before the Panzer IV was eliminated in turn. Hana's aim was perfect. Firing from an elevated position on a moving target, she didn't just hit it in the flank, she hit it in the rear; guaranteeing its defeat.
She had no illusions that apart from their ambush of the pair of Shermans, the whole match had been a desperate affair throughout. But she stuck with her judgement that they owed their victory to Saunders cheating more than anything else. Doubtless, at Saunders that girl was being made well-aware of that.
"We don't yet know who we'll face in the next round; Anzio or Maginot." Momo declared officiously when the screening was over. "But we will train hard for whichever opponent we face. We will win!" She snapped with enough force to startle everyone present, even those who had long since dismissed Momo's melodrama.
[][][][][][]
Any day where she had to deal with the Student Council was a day that had to end with a session in the gym. She could hear Duck team having an even more vigorous than usual volleyball game but for her part, she didn't fancy pounding the crap out of the punch bag. Not today anyway. Today she felt like a run.
When Miho had visited, she had been bothered by her sportswear. Hana meanwhile had no such hang ups and wore some navy blue leggings that would have caused many male nosebleeds ashore. She joined her on the treadmills with such casualness that for a couple of minutes Erika was barely aware of her. They were just two people doing their workout.
"I was wondering when you would come to talk to me." She said.
Hana was too elegant to be surprised. "How did you know?"
"You're intelligent. Of course you made the connection between Mako's grandmother and our… Our family dramas."
"Do you know what I'm going to say then?" Hana asked with a hint of a smile.
"You're going to say that we don't know what could happen tomorrow so we shouldn't say things we might not be able to take back. We shouldn't leave fences broken."
"And?"
"And meh." She said and stepped up her pace.
"Meh?"
"If you were injured and in the hospital and your mother came and took care of you, do you think it would change how she feels about you doing Sensha-do? And if it took you being hospitalised for her to change her mind, would you really be happy?
"You've asked yourself similar questions." Hana observed.
"I've already been hospitalised. That's what caused the fight in the first place." Erika pointed out wryly. "I don't know how your relationship with your mother was before but mine wasn't great. Our fight made things clear, and I don't regret it. I don't have anything to apologise for either. …Except maybe a few unnecessary insults."
"My mother had always been… Difficult." Hana confessed. "I think she sometimes forgets I'm her daughter and not her younger self. She would like me to be everything she was when she was young, only better. She's never liked it when I did anything different. Anything that she didn't do…" Hana pouted in a manner oddly reminiscent of Saori, and Erika reflected it was probably unconscious imitation of her friend. Hana then smiled. "She's never scolded me like Mako's grandmother!" She laughed and it died in her throat. "She always preferred guilt…"
"Like fainting in the street."
Hana slowed her pace. "Mother always wanted me to embody the virtues. But she never did seem to take them to heart herself. I sometimes think her histrionics are contagious and that's why Shinzaburo is as passionate as he is."
"I know I inherited my mother's temper and I hate to admit it but that's probably why we always argued; we're a little too similar. Though she likes to pretend she's calm, cool and collected." She bit her scar tissue. "We just have very different priorities."
"Which are?"
"These days?" Erika sighed and shook her head and similarly slowed her pace. "Making Oarai as strong as possible and winning this tournament."
"Why is that important?"
She hated these opportune moments to inform people of the truth but that just wasn't possible. "It's a distraction." She said instead which wasn't entirely a lie. Focusing on Sensha-do and solving Oarai's problems were a distraction from her own personal issues, even if they did overlap somewhat. "And I'm good at Sensha-do. So are you. You pull off a few more shots like that and we'll make it all the way."
Hana turned ever slightly pink with pleasure. "I would like more opportunities like that one. It's not the same when you're so close you know you can't miss. Not that I'm dismissing Yukari's contributions." She hastily assured her.
"Different tanks. You have a long gun so you should use it at long range. My little Russian tank's better as a brawler. And by the looks of things, Saunders didn't know what hit them when we got among them."
"We were all a little alarmed when we heard you singing over the radio." Hana said and now it was Erika's turn to blush slightly. "Miho seemed to know what it meant though. But why did you start singing?"
"It's Kuromorimine's anthem but they don't often sing it. It just felt… Appropriate. Panzerlied, 'Tank March'. I knew that Saunders girl was listening too and I thought it might scare her into making a mistake and giving you an opportunity."
"And you let the entire class know you're an amazing singer." Hana beamed and now Erika blushed furiously which made Hana giggle. "I love to sing but I don't think I would like a tank as my venue for showcasing my talent."
"It's the best possible place." Erika replied. "No one can see you and if anyone criticises your performance; you can shoot them."
Now Hana laughed outright. "When you're arranging flowers, the most you can do is contemplate smashing a vase over a critic's head."
"That's not very nice, Itsuzu-san."
"It's fun to think about though."
"I imagine it is." Perhaps her violent outbursts were also contagious. "We're definitely the elegant, graceful ladies Sensha-do is supposed to make us."
(10,028)
Author's Notes:
I enjoyed writing this one. I wasn't expecting writing Mako's Grandmother to be as fun as it was but I think I might bring her back in a non-canon scene just to write some more of her browbeating.
I could have been more expansive with the scenes with Koume but I felt there was nothing new to say and it would have just been a rehash of Erika telling Miho none of it was her fault. I felt it was better to get to the point.
Writing Maho is… Interesting. Maho in the series gives very little away and a great deal of her motivations are explained in supplementary materials. However what little there is in the series suggests she's fully aware of Miho's struggles with the Nishizumi Style. She just doesn't know what to do with that information because while she may be a confident commander; her people skills aren't much better than Miho's. She doesn't know how to speak to her sister, hence her statement that Miho would just tell her what she thinks she wants her to hear.
It's difficult to avoid repetition which is why I lampshade Erika having motivational conversations with various characters and constantly being presented with opportunities to reveal the Secret of the Sensha-do revival. As there are so many characters in the series and it's only logical for the club to socialise more and more, Erika is going to have the same conversation more than once. If it's annoying to read, it's annoying to write. But necessary to establish they're on the same page.
If you thought the Saunders match was too similar to the canon match, I will be taking the Anzio match in a different direction. With seven tanks, Oarai is significantly more powerful than they were before and Anzio wouldn't use the same pincer attack. But that won't be for a while.